Our Dog, Phin.

Our fur-baby.

Phin.

We named our dog after a beer.

Yes, a beer.

More specifically, the founder of a brewery, whose name was later used to name a beer.

(A favorite of ours - if you've never tried Southern Tier Brewing Company's Phin & Matt's...

you need to, you have no idea what you are missing!) 

We I adopted him last March, it was love at his first tail wag.

I was extremely blessed and so lucky with how it all came together, let me tell you how I found the perfect puppy for Garrett and I!

It was a hot and sunny (typical Houston) Thursday, March 8th.

-- HCPHES Veterinary Public Health Division posts all of their available dogs and cats on their website, and I had been watching their dog page like a hawk for over a week!

Originally Garrett and I kept looking at the photos of these tiny Cairn Terrier puppies who were about 8 weeks old, so we had planned to go to 'the pound' that Saturday to seriously look for a puppy.

By Thursday only 1 of the 8-week-old puppies was left, and I was FREAKING OUT!!

I still looked at the photos of the other dogs that would be there, a little black and white scruffy thing, a brindle-colored shaggy one, and a little grey fluffy girl were also on my radar.

My impatience led me to go by myself to the shelter/pound/kennel that day after work (I was determined to have a tiny puppy!). When I got there, I was told that the 8-week-old puppy had either been picked up by a rescue group or something.

I decided to start the search to see if they had another puppy that might suit Garrett and I.

I won't lie, Phin wasn't my first "try-out" that day, a tiny long-haired, yippy Chihuahua mix of some sort was my first. (Please don't ask me why - I was just excited to be around so many puppies)

After that didn't work out, I picked out the tiny black and white, quiet, scruffy guy sitting patiently by his door... He may or may not have been the only dog that wasn't barking!

He was sooo shy and timid for the first 5 minutes we were in the play pen, then just as I started to worry I wouldn't find a dog - little man started jumping and running circles around me.

I KNEW RIGHT AWAY... THIS IS OUR PUPPY!!

Long story short - I make arrangements to pick him up the first possible day (all dogs had to be fixed before they could be taken home).

Garrett may or may not have wanted to kill me when I got home and told him that we would be getting our little puppy just 4 days later! :-) 

..He's now wrapped around Phin's paw!

Scruffy pants the first night at home - before a bath!

He was about 9 months old when we got him, crate trained, pretty house-trained,

and HE DIDN'T BARK!!

--More on Phin, his bark and loud personality later!--